Advice, Modals, and Coronavirus

Advice, Modals, and Coronavirus

In recent months, health experts have released¹ many statements on the new coronavirus that was first identified in China. These statements often include suggestions on how people can slow the spread of the virus.

Today on Everyday Grammar, we will explore the grammar behind some of this advice. Specifically², we will examine public health videos from the Centers for Disease³ Control and Prevention, or CDC. The CDC is the top public health protection agency⁴ in the United States.

Giving and asking for advice

Nancy Messonnier is the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases⁵ at the CDC. She also is an expert on vaccines⁶.

In one video, she offers the following advice:

"The best way to protect yourself from 2019 Novel coronavirus is to avoid being exposed to the virus."

In this statement, Messonnier is using an important sentence pattern for giving advice. Her sentence begins with the words "the best way to..."

In an earlier Everyday Grammar program, we explained that some nouns⁷, such as the word 'way,' are often followed by an infinitive⁸. These infinitives⁹ act like nouns in the sentence.

When Messonnier said, "The best way to protect yourself," she used the infinitive to protect after the word way. Note that she then used the verb BE and another infinitive.

The basic pattern is as follows: "The best way + infinitive + BE verb + infinitive"

This is a common pattern for giving and asking for advice. It is useful in many situations – not just on health-related issues. Here is an example about those of you studying English.

"What is the best way to learn English?"

"The best way to learn English is to practice every day."

Here is another example. Imagine yourself on vacation. You ask someone for directions:

"What is the best way to get to the airport?"

"The best way to get to the airport is to take the train."

Modals for advice

Now, here is part of another video from the Centers for Disease Control. In it, the CDC's Tom Chiller talks about ways to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"Here are some things you should do:

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds...

Take extra measures to put distance between yourself and others...

Avoid close contact with people who are sick."

Let us look at verbs that Chiller used.

Notice Chiller used the modal verb, should.

Should is a modal that, in the words of grammar expert Betty Azar, expresses advisability¹⁰.

In other words, should tells another person that you are advising them to do something.

There are several modals that express advisability in English. They include should, ought to and had better.

Chiller could have replaced should with the words ought to – they are similar in meaning. But should is more common.

Had better also expresses advisability, but it has a different meaning than should and ought to. Had better suggests bad consequences if an action is not taken. In some cases, it can have a commanding, more threatening quality.

If you would like to learn more about modals, read our Everyday Grammar story called "You Had Better Learn Modals." You can find it on our website, www.51voa.com.

Imperative¹¹ statements and advice

Let's think about some of the other words Chiller said:

"Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds...

Take extra measures to put distance between yourself and others...

Avoid close contact with people who are sick."

When offering advice, Chiller made several kinds of imperative statements. The imperative, a kind of mood, is made from the base form of the main verb. The subject of the sentence, you, is left out.

Chiller could have given the same advice using the modal should. For example, he could have said, "You should wash your hands often."

But, if you remember the video we listened to, Chiller already said, "Here are some things you should do."

He did not use the word should again because he already said it.

Chiller's advice is another useful pattern for English learners. You could use it to give advice in any number of ways. For example, if someone had asked you how to improve their English, you could say:

"Here are some things you should do to improve your English:

Practice speaking every day.

Write down new words.

Test yourself on words and grammar."

Closing thoughts

Let's end this report with an idea for you: The best way to learn new information is to practice using it.

Try writing some suggestions by using the patterns we explored. You can write us in the website's Comments Section.

In the future, try looking for other kinds of patterns on the internet, in books and movies. Over time, you will notice that giving advice in English is not too difficult.

And that's Everyday Grammar.

Words in This Story

grammar – n. the system and structure of a language

novel – adj. new and different from what has been known before

expose – v. to show or uncover¹²; to cause someone to be at risk

pattern – n. the regular and repeated way in which something happens or is done

practice – v. to do (something) often or repeatedly¹³

consequence – n. a result of effect of an action

1 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

2 specifically   

adv.明确地，具体地；特别地，特意

参考例句：

• The book was written specifically for children.这本书是特地为儿童编写的。
• I told you specifically not to do that.我明确地告诉你不要那样做。

3 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

4 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

5 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 nouns   

n.名词；名词( noun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns. 法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 infinitive   

n.不定词；adj.不定词的

参考例句：

• The use of the split infinitive is now generally acceptable.分裂不定式的用法现在已被广泛接受。
• Modal verbs generally take the bare infinitive.情态动词通常用不带to的不定式。

9 infinitives   

n.（动词）不定式( infinitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her litmus test for good breeding is whether you split infinitives. 她测试别人是否具有良好教养的标准是看对方是否在不定式的动词前加修饰副词。 来自互联网
• Nouns, adjectives and infinitives can be used as objective complements. 名词，形容词及不定式可用作补语。 来自互联网

10 advisability   

n.明智

参考例句：

• He talked of the advisability of getting rid of him. 他总是谈谈赶掉他的好处。 来自辞典例句
• This advisability of deuteration is unnecessary with single crystals. 对于单晶，氘化的这种优点并不是必不可少的。 来自辞典例句

11 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

12 uncover   

vt.揭露，暴露；揭开…的盖子

参考例句：

• Please uncover the pot.请拿掉锅盖。
• In spring we uncover the swimming pool.春天我们移去游泳池的覆盖物。

13 repeatedly   

adv.重复地，再三地

参考例句：

• The loudspeakers blared the speech repeatedly.扬声器里反复大声地播送那篇演讲。
• He repeatedly beat his foot upon the floor.他反复用脚敲着地板。